Enjoy the beautiful story of the hedgehog and the chestnut with twenty kids’ yoga poses!
It was a sunny day (Hello Sun: Reach up to the sun and say “Hello Sun”). A little hedgehog was sleeping under the chestnut tree (Tree: Standing tall, place the heel of your foot on top of the other. Bring your hands together at your heart and grow your branches up tall). Suddenly something fell on his back (Hedgehog: Coming to our knees we lean forward, putting our forehead on the ground. We place our hands on our back like hedgehog quills). He looked over to his left, and then right. He nodded all the way forwards and up (Neck Exercise). But he could not see anything. He wanted to walk a little, but he felt a weight on his back. “I may be growing up” he thought.
At that moment he heard a sound. “Hello!” she said. The little hedgehog looked around but could not understand who she was. “Hey, can you hear me?” said the horse chestnut, whose thorns were intertwined with the hedgehog’s quills (Chestnut/Child Pose: Sit on your heels, slowly bring your forehead down to rest in front of your knees, rest your arms down alongside your body). “Why do not you come down?” said the hedgehog. “I can’t, I am stuck here. Can you jump?” asked the chestnut. “I will try so I can get you off my back” said the hedgehog. The little hedgehog jumped but it did not work (Frog: Crouch down, up on your toes, with your knees out wide and use your hands for balance).
At that moment a butterfly came to their side, flapping its wings (Butterfly: Sitting tall, bring the soles of your feet in touch and flutter your knees up and down like a butterfly’s wings). “I would love to help you, but I am so small” said the butterfly. “You better go to the old rabbit.” Together they went to the rabbit’s hut and asked for help. “I forgot to water the carrots. I do not want them to dry. You better go to the squirrel” said the rabbit (Hare: coming to our knees we lean forward a little then cross our hands behind our back. As we fold all the way forward our arms lift up to the sky like very long hare ears) and hurried away (Bunny Hops: Hands down flat, arms straight, we tuck our legs up behind us and spring both feet up together like bunnies bouncing).
The hedgehog and the chestnut visited the squirrel (Squirrel/Kneeling: Stand on your knees, open your chest, reach up to the moon) and asked for help. “I have to collect some walnuts before it is dark. I have no time. You better go to the owl” said the squirrel. The hedgehog and the chestnut desperately went to the tree where the owl lives (Owl: Kneeling up, we point our wings downwards into our lap, then as we stretch and open our wings we lift up off our heels saying to witt to woo as we fly up and down / Tree: Standing tall, place the heel of your foot on top of the other. Bring your hands together at your heart and grow your branches up tall). “I have to sleep now” said the owl and advised them to visit the fox. They found the fox (Dog: We press our feet and hands into the floor as we lift our bottoms to the sky, going woof woof). But the fox was too busy with counting the chicks. So, they went to see the bear and ask for help (Bear Walks: Pressing into our hands and feet we lift our bottom to the sky. Now we come right up onto our tiptoes and take a walk like a bear). Unfortunately, the bear was running away from the bees with a hive full of honey (Bumble Bee: Taking a deep breath in, we close our ears and eyes and hum a buzzy bumble bee breath out).
They had to find someone else to help so they went to see the red deer (Deer: Sitting tall, legs out long, we bend one knee up. We hug that knee, then placing our hand behind us, bring our other elbow round to the outside of the knee, looking back over our shoulder). But the antlers of red deer and black deer were intertwined while playing together (Intertwined/Eagle: Standing tall, bend your knees and cross one leg over the other. Scissor one arm under the other and twizzle them together). They looked funny.
It was getting dark. The little hedgehog had to return home and the poor chestnut started crying. She missed her mum. At that moment the hedgehog decided to run very fast (Roadrunner: Standing up, fold forwards and place your hands down either side of your feet. Step one of your legs back and bend your front knee down into a lunge. Lift your chest). He was running so fast that he just rolled down the slope (Rock ‘n’ Roll: sitting up we hug our knees into our body. We let ourselves rock back onto our backs and keep rocking so we rock all the way forward again to sitting up). They found themselves under the chestnut tree. The little hedgehog opened his eyes. And a pair of eyes were staring at him. They said “Hi!” to each other smiling. “I would love to play with you, but I have to go home” said the little hedgehog and walked away. After the hedgehog left, another chestnut jumped from the tree. It was her mum who was curious about her. The little chestnut told her mother what happened and fell into a deep sleep, leaning on his mother (Relaxation: We lie back, our arms and legs heavy and long, enjoying this rest).
Relaxation:
What a beautiful story! What happens to the little hedgehog and the chestnut… How patiently they try to solve their problems without hurting each other. We should not be disappointed when we face a challenge. Some help may come at a time we never expect. Sometimes we can make bold decisions, which can work!
When you feel ready, you can slowly start to move your fingers and toes. Pulling your knees to your chest, give them a big hug. Rolling over to one side, lift up to a comfortable sitting position. Bring your hands together in front of your chest. Thank you for doing yoga with me today. Namaste!